NEW YORK — Joe Rossi knows he faces a daunting challenge on two fronts tomorrow. Somehow, he has to figure out a way to dramatically improve — or at least disguise — one of the worst statistical defenses in Rutgers history.

Then he has to do it against an acclaimed offensive mind in Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly.

And he’s had all of what amounted to nine bowl practices (because of the way the schedule broke) to accomplish both.

"It’s hard. You really can’t do too much," said Rossi, the Scarlet Knights’ interim defensive coordinator for tomorrow’s Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium against the Fighting Irish. "At the end of the day, if you spend too much time changing things, you’re not going to get good at those things. So we’ve really looked at ways we can get a little better here and there.

"It’s been a challenge. But I think we’ve done a good job with it."

Rossi, 34, has experience as a defensive coordinator, having last served in that role at Maine from 2009-11. But his two seasons at Rutgers have mostly been spent as special teams coordinator. That changed after Dave Cohen was fired as the Scarlet Knights’ defensive coordinator the day after the regular-season finale.

But as much as Rossi may have designs on the job full time, he doesn’t necessarily view tomorrow as an audition.

"Coach (Kyle) Flood asked me to do this and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability, just like throughout the course of my career, no matter what it has been," Rossi said. "That’s always been the way I approach it and that’s been my mind-set again."

The great unknown is what he has been able to do in just nine bowl practices.

Will he be more aggressive with blitzes? Will he do more to disguise coverages? Will there be a noticeable difference in the way Rutgers plays defense?

"It will be in that family," he said without elaborating.

Linebacker Kevin Snyder could only hint at a more aggressive approach, without being specific. Defensive tackle Darius Hamilton called it "more tweaking (of the defense) than anything else."

"I think the one thing you’ll see is more of an aggressive style in the back end," Snyder said. "I’m not going to go too in-depth on what we might be changing, but I think you’ll see more of an aggressive, attacking mentality from the back seven."

Rossi, even if he takes risks, really doesn’t have much to lose. Rutgers’ 3,737 passing yards allowed this year shattered the old school record, and the defense is 401 yards away from allowing the most yards in program history.

"I think you guys will be surprised," Hamilton said, declining to say more.

Though the Irish will be working with an interim offensive coordinator in Mike DenBrock, Rossi fully expects this to be a Kelly-type offense, similar to the ones he ran as the head coach and offensive coordinator at Cincinnati before moving to Notre Dame.

The Irish aren’t really a spread team, but Rossi knows Kelly will adjust to exploit the issues Rutgers’ defense has had against those offensive schemes.

"I would think so," he said when asked if he expected the Irish to run more one-back spread offense than usual.

Essentially, what it all means Rossi will be matching wits with Kelly, one of the college game’s top offensive coaches.

"In terms of doing your job, you can’t get caught up in that aspect of it," Rossi said. "You look at what they do, how they do it, what their strengths and weaknesses are and what your strengths and weaknesses are and then you formulate a game plan."